Case Study: Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) achieves secure, campus-wide wireless access and simplified management with HPE Aruba Networking

Historic Institution Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) Turns to Aruba for Connectivity

The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) is a historic Parisian higher‑education institution (founded 1794) serving some 80,000 attendees including 10,000 students, 7,000 lecturers and 2,000 staff. Faced with the impracticality and high cost of wiring an 1838 heritage campus (including a 13th‑century church), CNAM needed a discreet, secure wireless platform to cover lecture theatres and multiple remote sites while coping with urban RF interference, rogue APs, segmented user communities and an easy‑to‑administer guest access portal.

CNAM deployed Aruba controllers and roughly 300 AP61 access points with Adaptive Radio Management, WIDS and PEF licenses to deliver multiple SSIDs/VLANs, 802.1x/WPA2 security, a centralized guest portal and integrated voice/data support. The result is a single, secure infrastructure that became the campus’s primary access method, expanded to additional sites, is centrally managed with about 4 man‑hours/week, and now supports pilots for voice‑over‑Wi‑Fi and real‑time location/asset services.

Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers (CNAM)

Denis Coree

CIO